Zola is seeking to solve scalability, performance, and reliability challenges in their e-commerce and wedding planning product suite by hiring a Senior Backend Engineer to contribute to the architecture, design, and implementation of foundational services.
Requirements
- Experienced Engineer: 5+ years of professional experience in backend software development, with a proven track record of shipping high-quality, scalable products.
- Strong Coder: Deep expertise in Java and proficiency with modern development tools, including AI coding assistants (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Claude Code).
- System Designer: Strong experience with distributed systems, microservices architecture, and designing RESTful APIs.
- Database Proficient: Experienced with both a relational data store such as PostgreSQL and one or more NoSQL data stores (e.g., Redis, MongoDB).
- Cloud Native: Hands-on experience designing, building, and operating production systems on a major cloud platform, such as AWS.
- Collaborative & Communicative: Excellent communication skills and ability to clearly articulate complex technical ideas to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Problem Solver: Pragmatic and analytical thinker who is adept at breaking down complex problems and driving them to resolution.
Responsibilities
- Design & Architect: Lead the design and development of scalable, secure, and maintainable backend microservices and APIs within our service-oriented architecture.
- Build & Implement: Write high-quality, efficient, and testable code, primarily in Java, deployed on Amazon Web Services (AWS).
- Collaborate: Partner closely with product managers, front-end engineers, and other stakeholders to define features and deliver compelling solutions for our couples and vendors.
- Mentor & Uplift: Mentor other engineers through thoughtful code reviews and design discussions, actively contributing to a culture of shared knowledge and growth.
- Own & Operate: Take ownership of the full software development lifecycle, from technical design to deployment, monitoring, and maintenance in a production environment.
- Scale & Optimize: Proactively identify performance bottlenecks and scaling issues, and re-architect systems to ensure they can handle growing traffic and data volumes.
- Innovate: Stay current with emerging technologies and industry trends, particularly within the AI ecosystem, and advocate for their adoption where they can improve our platform and processes.
Other
- A B.S. or M.S. in Computer Science or a related field is preferred.
- Excellent communication skills and ability to clearly articulate complex technical ideas to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Ability to work in a hybrid environment, with 2 days per week in the NYC office.
- Ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams, including product managers, designers, and other engineers.
- Passion for building robust, well-designed backend systems and solving complex technical problems.
